Shaving Cream and Foam Blocks

Another really messy sensory play activity for Monkey today. 

I got the idea here: http://www.giftofcuriosity.com/building-with-foam-blocks-and-shaving-cream-fine-motor-skills/#_a5y_p=2212247

Supplies: bucket or bowl, baking sheet, shaving foam, foam blocks 

I got the foam blocks at the dollar store. I love baking sheets for this sort of activity - they're nice and flat and they have the lip around them which contains the mess or activity. We use them for all sorts of things! 

I didn't tell Monkey what the shaving cream was. I just started filling up the bucket. Looking back, I could have used about half as much as I did. I ended up throwing a lot away, and I hate being wasteful. 

Monkey was a little skeptical to say the least. He doesn't love having his hands dirty. He cautiously stuck a finger into the shaving cream. Even after I scooped some up with my hands and started stacking the blocks he was still very apprehensive. So I figured he needed a tool. I grabbed his child's knife and showed him how to use it to spread the shaving cream onto the blocks. 

This did the trick! He still wiped his hands on the towel every ten seconds just in case, but it seemed to be just what he needed. 

I was sort of hoping he would start stacking them up like bricks with the shaving cream in between. He didn't really care for that and just wanted to stick them onto the baking sheet. 

I stacked a few on my own and he took notice and started helping me. At his point he commented that they looked like buildings and skyscrapers. (Yay!)

It was really interesting to watch Monkey do this activity. I didn't intend it to be a fine motor activity but using the knife to spread the shaving cream takes a lot of coordination. One thing I noticed is that he held the knife with both hands and could spread the shaving cream with both of them. 

Here is the finished 'city' using all the blocks:

After making this beautiful work of art he finally felt brave enough to stick his hands right in the shaving cream! It may sound silly but this was a big step for him... even if it only lasted for thirty seconds!

I tried to save the shaving cream by putting the lid on the bucket, but by the end of the day it was too sticky and gross to use again. Oh well, lesson learned!

Mar